India to build closer ties with Baltic nations with Naidu visit

In keeping with the government's priority to boost ties with small nations, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will visit the three Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from August 17-21 in the first such high-level trip from India.

The visit aims to advance India's outreach to the important countries that border the Baltic Sea.

It is also expected to give a fillip to India's keenness to push the International North-South Transport Corridor project that aims to link the Indian Ocean with the Baltic Sea and provide seamless connectivity.

India and Latvia have been historically linked by the ancient route called The Amber Way - an ancient trade route to transport amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.

Thanks to its ice-free ports and well-developed rail and road network, Latvia connects the Baltic region with the rest of Europe as well as Russia and Central Asia. This would help Indian exports reach these markets.

The new Rail Baltica project, a trans-European rail project to connect the Baltic states to the existing European rail network, would be an advantage for India.